Cartel boss convicted in U.S. court

BROWNSVILLE — A federal jury deliberated two hours Friday before finding a self-proclaimed Gulf Cartel plaza boss guilty of a decade of conspiring to import and distribute cocaine and marijuana from Mexico into the United States.

Juan Roberto Rincon-Rincon, who on Sept. 17 rejected a plea deal, looked down grimly as the verdict was read, his hands crossed in front of him. He faces 10 years to life in prison at his Jan. 7 sentencing.

U.S. District Judge Hilda Tagle earlier in the day denied a defense motion to dismiss the case for lack of evidence linking Rincon-Rincon directly to narcotics coming through the Rio Bravo “plaza,” Rincon-Rincon's fiefdom opposite Hidalgo County.

“They're just going to try to say that if it's here it belongs to the Gulf Cartel and ... it belongs to Mr. Rincon,” Defense Attorney Richard Zayas said, referring to testimony of 14 large marijuana seizures totaling more than 5,000 kilograms made on the U.S. side of the plaza during Rincon-Rincon's reign over a cartel sector that had a $95,000-per-week payroll.

Evidence also showed that Rincon-Rincon, 41, had between 2004 and 2009 been boss of the San Fernando sector, where planeloads of cocaine were regularly delivered to remote landing strips for transport to and beyond the Texas border.

Zayas did not present evidence, but in a closing statement stressed that the government's case was based largely on unrecorded interviews and testimony from convicted criminals willing to say anything in hopes of a lighter sentence.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Jody Young countered that proof of Rincon-Rincon's guilt came from Rincon-Rincon himself, who according to testimony puffed out his chest and proudly told an investigator his identity.

Young added that the testimony only corroborated years of intelligence into both Rincon-Rincon's identity and the power struggles within the cartel.

Testimony provided a rare and comprehensive look into the workings of what had been one of Mexico's most powerful drug smuggling operations.

But as Rincon-Rincon, also known as “Primo” and “X-5” rose, the cartel was disintegrating.

The 2003 capture and subsequent U.S. conviction of former cartel leader Osiel Cárdenas-Guillén left Jorge Eduardo “El Cos” or “El Coss” Costilla in power, and Rincon-Rincon became one of Costilla's top men.

But Osiel's formation of the “Zeta” group of specially trained enforcers proved ill-fated when the group splintered into a rival faction, and of late family of Osiel and a Reynosa-based faction known as the “Metros” were simultaneously trying to topple Costilla.

Costilla was arrested in Mexico earlier this month.

Young, the prosecutor, said he was pleased with an “important” verdict.

“It shows that we're certainly looking at individuals on both sides of the border who continue to traffic drugs inside our country, and we'll continue to do this,” he said.